A certain broken Hogwarts

The cold, drizzling rain continued until December. After a few days of clear skies, an even more biting wind and heavy snowfall arrived, shrouding the world in a white expanse.

With the end of the term drawing ever closer, Hogwarts Castle is filled with a busy yet joyful Christmas atmosphere.

Colorful ribbons made of holly and mistletoe hung in the corridors, and mysterious lights flickered inside each suit of armor. The auditorium was also decorated with colorful lights, which would occasionally transform into little fairies with fluttering wings, flying around under the ceiling like fireflies.

This period was unexpectedly peaceful for Owen and Harry; apart from the perpetually gloomy weather, it seemed that all the gloom had vanished.

After the "curse" was broken, Owen was no longer harassed by the Exterminators, and Harry was no longer attacked.

The two often discussed and studied spells together in the Room of Requirement. Harry would tirelessly challenge Owen to duels, though he was almost always the one who lost. In any case, Owen became increasingly less bothered to hide or pretend in front of Harry.

The Great Hall was chilly in the early morning, but the atmosphere was noisy and lively. As the holidays approached, the students were happily discussing their holiday plans and the last weekend they would spend in Hogsmeade before the break.

"Brace, are you still planning to go to Hogsmeade Village tomorrow?" Draco grinned mischievously and raised his eyebrows at Brax.

Blaise's eyebrows twitched, he crossed his arms, snorted, and arrogantly raised his chin, coldly saying, "I'm not going!"

Those around him were momentarily stunned by his fearless demeanor, then burst out laughing in unison. Just as Blaise was about to explode, he cleared his throat and changed the subject, talking about Christmas holiday plans.

"I'm planning to leave school and spend Christmas with Sirius." Harry seemed very happy, and even the fact that he couldn't go to Hogsmeade Village tomorrow didn't dampen his spirits.

"Also, Sirius promised to teach me Apparition during the Christmas holidays," he said to Owen in a low voice. He had been wanting to learn the spell for a while, but unfortunately Hogwarts had the Anti-Apparition Charm, so he couldn't practice at school.

"Well done," Owen replied dismissively, unsurprised.

Although the school does not recommend that students under the age of 17 learn Apparition, and it is illegal to Apparate without permission from the Ministry of Magic, how could Sirius not be confused by Harry's persuasive and persistent arguments?

"What have you two been up to all this time, sneaking around like this?" came the drawn-out voice. Draco looked them over suspiciously with his gray eyes. He felt that these two were hiding a big secret, but they weren't including him in their conversation.

"Uh, it's nothing," Harry coughed lightly. "Would you like some orange juice?"

"No, humph." Draco raised his chin, pointed his nostrils at him, and picked up the other milk.

Irving smiled, finished his milk and cereal, and then opened the letter that the owl had delivered that morning.

The letter from Kurt Garnier was still verbose, detailing the progress of his investigation into the Exiles in the past few days.

Ever since Kurt started investigating the Deathbringers by following the guy who was tailing the bookstore, the two had been exchanging letters frequently. Kurt would report on everything he saw in great detail, always with a strong hint that he wanted to be praised, while Irving would give him some advice and then offer a few words of encouragement with a touch of amusement.

The investigation into the Extinction Society was exceptionally difficult and tedious. Kurt spent a considerable amount of time tracking and surveillance before finally making a breakthrough. This made Owen extremely grateful that he had taken in this silly boy; he had no desire to waste his energy on such a boring and time-consuming task.

"Hmm, looks like we'll have results soon." Owen finished reading today's letter, staring blankly at the swirling snowflakes outside the window. "If all goes well, we can launch a proper counterattack this Christmas break..."

He stared blankly for a while before casually writing a reply, then picked up Melete, who was kicking Pu Rongrong like a ball, and headed towards the classroom with his schoolbag.

"Two more classes today," Draco's grumbling drifted over. "The last two classes before vacation are always the hardest to get through..."

……

The howling wind carried swirling snowflakes, and the penetrating chill made pedestrians quicken their pace. The pristine white snow covered the dark stone path, and the messy footprints on the snow gleamed with a dirty black hue.

As evening approached, thick smoke billowed from the chimneys of several houses, emitting a pungent, strange smell that seemed to tint even the drifting snowflakes with a hazy gray hue.

Kurt, shivering in a dirty, tattered robe, huddled in the dark doorway, trying to bury his nearly frozen face under his ragged scarf, his shoulders covered with a thin layer of snow.

He disguised himself as a short, middle-aged man, with sparse red hair wrapped in a scarf, a messy beard that made him look extremely haggard, a round, bulbous nose that was red from the cold wind, and even his eyelashes were covered with a layer of white frost.

Like the other two homeless people around him, he curled up into a ball, tucked his hands into his sleeves, glanced at the doorway every now and then, and then casually looked away, occasionally letting out a meaningless hum.

From his vantage point, he could see right to the end of the narrow alley, where a low house stood with a rusty door knocker hanging on its peeling black wooden door, and a faint yellow light shone through the cracks in the door.

After obtaining Irving's consent, Kurt was eager to make a big splash, to avenge his family and to prove his abilities to Mr. Irving.

The members of the Extinction Society who were monitoring the bookstore had stopped monitoring it two weeks ago. Fortunately, Kurt had already successfully tracked them down and started a long stakeout before that.

He disguised himself as a homeless man who had wandered here, sometimes aimlessly wandering around the neighborhood, and sometimes returning to this place that could provide shelter from the wind and rain, keeping an eye on the house and the people coming and going around him.

"There are usually only two people guarding this house; it looks like a tiny outpost..." Kurt sighed heavily. "To truly help Mr. Owen, we'd need to find at least one of the Deathbringers' major outposts. It's a pity we can't subdue them to extract information..."

He always kept Irving's warning in mind: remain hidden in the shadows, stalking and monitoring, and avoid alerting the enemy. He couldn't use violence to interrogate them for information, because the members of the Deathbringer had sworn an oath of secrecy and could not voluntarily reveal organizational secrets; he couldn't impersonate a member of the Deathbringer, because it would be easy to be exposed…

Kurt had been staking out this place for over half a month, becoming friends with the local homeless people, even exchanging tobacco leaves and gossip. But he hadn't made much progress on the investigation into the Exiles; tracking those people without leaving a trace was an extremely difficult task.

The people stationed in that house would occasionally come out to buy necessities, but Kurt couldn't target them. Sometimes owls would come and go with messages, but he didn't intend to intercept them unless absolutely necessary. Occasionally a few people would come and go, but Kurt didn't find an opportunity to follow them.

Kurt stretched his stiff body, rubbing his back against the wall to calm his inner turmoil. Fortunately, his grandfather had not only taught him the skills of thievery, but also cultivated in him a patience and caution far beyond his years, making this kind of life not too difficult for him.

Hmm, he was a little hungry. He missed Mr. Lupin's steak; it was absolutely delicious. It seemed like Mr. Lupin could do everything, and as for Miss Natasha… her cooking was alright too, at least it wouldn't kill anyone.

Kurt perked up and looked around. Seeing that his two homeless companions were dozing with their eyes closed, he carefully took out a piece of parchment from his pocket, unfolded it, and stared at the line of praise written in beautiful handwriting for a while. He then grinned smugly for a moment.

Mr. Owen is praising me for doing a great job… Kurt sniffed, reluctantly handing the letter to a little mouse he had tamed. He had to hide the letter so that he wouldn't expose Mr. Owen's intentions if he got caught.

After watching the mouse disappear into its hole with the letter in its mouth, Kurt straightened his back and perked up again as if he had been injected with adrenaline.

Kurt felt that the opportunity he had been waiting for was finally coming. The activity at this base had increased significantly in the past two days, and he keenly sensed that the Deathbringer might be planning something big. If he could find out the truth, Mr. Owen would be very happy.

Just as he was lost in thought, a person shrouded in black robes hurried past the doorway, stood in front of the house, knocked, and was then ushered inside.

Upon seeing this, Kurt's eyes lit up, and he slowly stood up. He stomped his numb feet, then hunched over and slowly moved outside.

A short while later, the door to the house reopened. Three people emerged from the steaming house, striding across the snow-covered ground.

Just as the three were about to pass by, Kurt pulled his robe tighter around himself and stumbled out of the dark doorway, losing his balance and bumping into one of the men on the shoulder.

"What?" Kurt muttered under his breath, then swayed and walked off in another direction.

The person who was bumped into glared at him sharply and dangerously, his hand, hidden in his pocket, about to be pulled out. Kurt maintained his dejected and dazed appearance, brushing past the three people without changing his expression, leaving his back to them.

"Don't waste time." A deliberately lowered, husky voice faintly drifted over. The man glared coldly at Kurt's retreating figure before following the two men out of the alley.

Once the three figures were out of sight, Kurt suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, his grip on his wand loosening slightly. Even after just a brief encounter, a fine layer of sweat had appeared on his forehead. After all, if those three had attacked him recklessly, he might have lost his life and failed Mr. Owen's expectations.

He maintained his persona, continuing to stroll leisurely, stumbling and turning into an alleyway in another direction, walking along a rarely traveled path, leaving a single line of footprints on the pristine white snow.

As he moved further away from the previous area, he walked faster and faster, and a youthful, energetic smile gradually appeared on his face. He quickly took off his tattered robe and scarf, his beard shrank back, his chin became smooth again, and his hair turned into a thick, understated black.

In the blink of an eye, he changed his appearance and became an ordinary-looking, unremarkable boy.

Kurt pulled a strange compass from his pocket, and looking at the slightly trembling needle, his smile widened.

This is a small tool his grandfather taught him to make, consisting of a compass and an unassuming hook that looks like a beggar-ticks seed. The compass needle indicates the direction of the hook, which can be used to track a target.

Well, it's normal for a competent thief to be proficient in tailing.

Just now, Kurt took advantage of the collision with that person to nimbly slip the crochet hook into the inside of the target's pocket, a place that wouldn't be easily noticed.

Kurt smiled broadly, stroking the compass in his hand as he watched the needle begin to turn slightly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. After waiting for so long, there had finally been progress.

He drew his wand and began to navigate the intricate alleyways in the direction the pointer indicated.

As night fell completely, Kurt finally found the right place. The compass could indicate direction, but it wasn't precise, requiring him to constantly confirm the location. Moreover, the target he was chasing had shifted to a much farther place.

The snow had stopped, and Kurt stood in the shadow of the house, silently watching the brightly lit bar in front of him.

"The Hound of the Night? This is London, isn't it..." Kurt gazed at the pub sign gleaming in the night, and through the window at the people clinking glasses inside.

He hid himself in a concealed position, quietly observing the situation in the bar. Although it was a cold night, the bar was bustling with activity, with a constant stream of customers, many of whom were dressed in strange clothes and did not look like wizards.

The few people in robes mixed in were inconspicuous and did not attract any strange looks.

After seeing several people who came out of the bar turn into a secluded alley and Apparate, Kurt realized that this was either a wizard's gathering place or a secret stronghold of the Exorcists.

"How can I find out what's going on inside?" Kurt thought for a moment, then first sent a letter to Owen, and then ran to another shop to grab a strange Muggle outfit to put on. At the same time, he adjusted his appearance to make himself look like a young man who had just come of age, with a slightly immature face.

After disguising himself, he cast a confusion spell on two men who appeared to be heading to a bar, making them believe the three of them were friends. They then entered the bar together.

Sitting near the bar, Kurt casually ordered a cocktail, frowned, took a sip, and almost stuck out his tongue from the spiciness. Several men around him laughed and joked, and Kurt smiled shyly, using this as cover to discreetly observe the people around him.

He sat in the bar for over an hour and saw several groups of people walk in, head straight to the bar, and then, at the staff's direction, go into the kitchen. Because the bar was so lively, no one paid any attention to this.

Kurt sipped his drink and waited. When another man in a robe walked in, he whispered to his two already drunken companions, "A lot of people have gone into the kitchen. Is that the VIP area? Do they have better drinks there?"

"Let's go check it out!" The two men, already quite drunk, stood up and walked towards the bar. Kurt followed behind them, adjusting his position to intentionally or unintentionally block the person who had just entered the bar from a distance from the bar.

"...Why can't we go in! Don't stop me from going in to drink!"

The bartenders behind the counter smiled and stopped the two Muggles, while two other bartenders walked over with unfriendly expressions, looking annoyed and trying to grab their arms.

Kurt quickly pulled his two companions away from the bar, apologized to the clerk, and at the same time noticed the man in the robe making a discreet gesture.

After watching the man go into the kitchen, Kurt pulled out one of his companions' wallets to pay the bill, then dragged them out of the bar.

After wandering around the surrounding streets, putting on a black robe, and using a spell to cleanse himself of the smell of alcohol, Kurt returned to the vicinity of the bar and waited patiently.

After seeing a man of medium height emerge from the bar and Apparate into the alley next door, Kurt quickly altered his appearance and physique based on his previous impression, then added height-increasing insoles to his shoes, soon becoming identical to that man.

He took a few deep breaths, encouraged himself, and then calmly walked back into the bar. He bent the index and middle fingers of his left hand and made that strange gesture to the bartender behind the counter.

The shop assistant glanced at him with obvious surprise, wondering why he had returned so soon after leaving, but didn't ask any further questions, simply nodding to him.

Kurt stepped into the kitchen and saw a door behind a row of wine racks. Beside the door sat a middle-aged man in a dark green robe, looking tired and impatient.

"Ah, Henry, what brings you back again?" The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows in surprise upon seeing Kurt.

"I forgot something." Kurt frowned, his expression a mixture of impatience and embarrassment. "Stop talking nonsense, I'm in a hurry."

The man sized him up for a moment, then gave him a knowing look, grinning meaningfully to reveal a set of yellow teeth: "It couldn't have been a lost wand, right?"

Kurt tried to hide his embarrassment, his face turning red, and glared at the other person fiercely before rushing inside. A rough, mocking laugh came from outside.

Behind the door were downward-facing stairs, with oil lamps lit on either side; there was no one else around. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief, gripping his wand tightly in his right hand, and carefully descended the stairs into the spacious underground passage.

It was eerily quiet; all sound seemed to be blocked out. The air was damp and cold. Kurt pulled out the invisibility cloak he had borrowed from Natasha, put it on, and walked forward through the dark passage.

His choice was wise, for two menacing-looking men stood guard outside the door at the end of the passage. They stood there meticulously, wands clutched tightly in their hands, their eyes fixed intently on the passage ahead.

Kurt stopped a good distance away from them; he wasn't confident he could fool these two guys who clearly weren't just going through the motions.

"What should we do? Should we back out?" Kurt hesitated, wondering. Judging from the current situation, this place was likely a very important secret location, but whether it was actually a stronghold of the Extinction Society was still uncertain.

However, if this continues, the risk of being exposed increases significantly.

He hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to turn back, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind him.

Kurt quickly pressed his back against the wall to avoid being bumped. He watched as a group of five or six people walked past him, showing what they were holding to the two guards at the end of the passage, each saying a different code... This made Kurt extremely relieved.

But this gave Kurt an opportunity. He darted around and quietly followed the group, even his breathing becoming extremely shallow, so that no one noticed anything amiss.

This was Kurt's forte. He might not be confident that he could fool the gatekeeper when he was alone, but the chaotic footsteps and voices made it perfect for him to slip through the cracks.

Kurt nimbly stepped past the last person and silently slipped through the crowd, without even touching the hem of his clothes. He blended into the group, passed the guards without incident, and successfully entered through the back door.

After carefully distancing himself from the crowd, Kurt breathed a long sigh of relief and revealed an excited smile.

He then had time to look around. It was a fairly spacious square room with passageways on all four sides. Kurt followed the group into the passageway directly opposite and soon heard faint voices coming from ahead.

At the end of the corridor was a conference room. After the group of people ahead of him went inside, Kurt stood outside the door and peeked inside, noticing that quite a few people were already seated. The familiar skull and scepter emblem engraved in the center of the conference room reassured Kurt that he hadn't come to the wrong place.

A muffled voice came from inside the meeting room: "You've arrived. There's a task for you to complete..."

Kurt pricked up his ears, trying hard to make out the sounds coming from inside.

"...This is the location of the key. Bring it back tonight. Kill any resistance you encounter..."

A key? What key? Kurt wondered. Owen hadn't told him in detail about the sapphire the Deathbringers had been searching for.

He squeezed into the corner and watched a group of people walk out of the conference room and quickly disappear into the darkness at the end of the corridor.

The voices continued to drift from the meeting room: "How's the elimination plan targeting that boy from the Shafik family progressing?"

Upon hearing the news from Irving, Kurt was instantly captivated, forgetting all his earlier questions about the "key."

"The curse failed. The caster was struck by a backlash and died a horrible death."

"Hogwarts is heavily guarded; it would be very difficult for our people to infiltrate..."

"Dumbledore is there, and there's the Anti-Apparition Charm. It's not a good idea to make a move there."

"The area around Hogsmeade is teeming with Dementors, and we haven't found an opportunity to assassinate him... That boy is no pushover."

"Who allowed the prisoners in Azkaban to escape?"

The cacophony of voices in the conference room made Kurt grit his teeth and clench his fists.

Kill them! Anyone who tries to harm Mr. Irving should be killed!

"So you've made no progress at all?" the first voice said coldly, sounding very unhappy. "So many people and so much power, and so much time spent, yet you can't even handle a boy... The guild leader is very disappointed and has sent me here to clean up your mess."

The conversation paused for a moment, then resumed: "We plan to make our move during the Christmas holidays..."

"Are you sure Owen Shafik will leave Hogwarts for Christmas?" the voice asked leisurely.

Silence returned.

"Start with the Shafik family!" the voice declared decisively. "From now on, focus all our efforts on the Shafik family's businesses and directly affiliated forces. Set a trap for that Shafik couple; it would be best if they could be injured or captured, but killing them is also acceptable..."

"I don't believe he'll still hide in school and not come out after all this."

"As long as he dares to come out, there's always a way to kill him," the voice said ominously.

"But... wouldn't this be too much of a fuss? He's just a boy, we don't need to sacrifice too much of our strength for this..." someone retorted.

"No! That boy must die!" the voice said coldly. "This is the chairman's top order: kill him at all costs."

Now no one objected.

Kurt bit his lower lip hard, his nails digging into his palm. He suppressed the urge to immediately call Owen to deal with these people, and listened silently to their plan.

After an unknown amount of time, the meeting finally ended. People walked out of the meeting room in twos and threes, most of them wearing hoods. Kurt could only remember the faces of a few who were not covered, but unfortunately he couldn't tell who the leader was.

After everyone in the conference room had left, Kurt returned to the original square room, intending to take the opportunity to investigate the situation in the other two passageways.

He first went into the left passage and wandered around, discovering that this was the accommodation area, divided into small rooms. Some showed signs of habitation, but most were empty, indicating that few people stayed here for extended periods.

He then turned into the passage on the right and saw a dying old man in the prison inside.

Kurt stared at the other man's pale face, feeling a sense of familiarity. He racked his brains, trying to remember where he had seen him before, as he slowly moved closer.

As the other person's breathing grew fainter and fainter, Kurt opened his mouth and suddenly remembered who it was.

He remembered that when he was very young, before he moved to this country, this man had visited his grandfather's house several times and brought him gifts... They hadn't seen each other since they moved here.

"Is he Grandfather's friend?" A thought flashed through Kurt's mind. "Is he the traitor the Deathbringers have been hunting down? Is he an accomplice who stole the treasure from the Deathbringers with Grandfather?"

Kurt looked around to make sure no one was around, then tore off his invisibility cloak and approached the iron bars of the cell.

"Grandpa Burke?" Kurt called out softly, unsure if he had remembered the other person's name correctly.

The dying old man stirred, his withered body trembling, as he struggled to lift his head to look at Kurt outside the railing, a glimmer of light flashing in his deathly gray eyes.

"Hah..." He opened his blood-filled mouth, breathing heavily. Just as Kurt was worried that the old man might die, he seemed to regain some strength and slowly crawled towards them.

"You are... Kurt... Garnier's grandson?" The old man finally managed to climb to the railing, collapsing to the ground, panting heavily. The short distance of just over a meter had exhausted all his strength.

"Yes, that's me." Kot nodded and began searching for his healing potions. "I'll treat you first."

"No...no, listen to me..." The old man stretched out a hand and gripped the railing tightly, his cloudy eyes seeming to burst with a burning light. "I can't go on, Kurt...I couldn't hold on...the torture revealed things I shouldn't have..."

He coughed violently for a while, then continued in a hoarse voice, "But we must not let them get...that thing...we must stop him, ambition will...will breed disaster..."

"The thing is... in the cave on the west side of the mountain east of Rockworld village... cough cough... don't get involved. There's a badge under the stone tablet by the river down the mountain. Use it to contact those people, they'll take action... they'll deal with them..."

"Did you hear me clearly?"

Meeting the old man's astonishingly bright gaze, Kurt couldn't bring himself to refuse and could only nod.

"Good child..." The old man's grip on the railing loosened limply, his eyes returned to their lifeless state, and his expression became confused. "Hurry up and go... it's dangerous here..."

"I'll take you with me..." Kurt's nose tingled, and his eyes reddened. He thought of his grandfather.

He hurriedly pulled out a bottle of healing potion, but when he looked over again, the old man in the cell was already lying there motionless, having stopped breathing.

Kurt stood there stunned for a moment, then suddenly wiped his face with his sleeve and put the potion back in his pocket. He bowed deeply to the old man, put on the invisibility cloak, and went out.

He waited for a while by the exit passage, and finally slipped out during the shift change of the gatekeeper.

Kurt walked a little further away, found a place to quickly write a letter, and after thinking about it for a moment, he took out the badge that Irving had given him for emergency communication and rubbed it a few times with his thumb.

With a whoosh, black flames burst into flames beside him, and a magnificent and elegant black phoenix flew out of the flames, glaring at him fiercely with its bright red eyes, its expression filled with displeasure at being treated like an owl.

Kurt involuntarily shuddered, a submissive smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and handed over the letter with both hands.

Nyx clicked its beak open and closed once, raised its head and gave him a haughty glance before picking up the envelope and disappearing into the eerie black flames. (End of Chapter)